ABSL Power Solutions

At 07:58GMT today, September 26th the capsule landed in the border region between Russia and Kazakstan following a twelve-day mission in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) performing various life science experiments.  This mission followed the spacecraft launch on 14th September 2007 by a Soyuz rocket.

The success of this exciting mission proves a new ABSL Space Products (ABSL) space battery product line: primary batteries.  ABSL is already the world leader in the supply of rechargeable (secondary) Lithium-ion batteries with 29 launches, and contracts for more than eighty spacecraft and launch vehicles.  Primary batteries are not rechargeable and so are used for one-shot applications where very high energy density is absolutely key.  This is demonstrated by the 90Ah FOTON battery which has an energy density well in excess of 300Wh/kg including all structural and electronic components.

Josef Winter, Head of ESA’s Payload and Microgravity Platform Division, said in an ESA statement:

“I am extremely pleased with the success of the Foton-M3 mission. All operations during the mission were flawless. The hard work and dedication of all involved has contributed to make this mission a success.”

ABSL predicts that the ABSL 33111PR cell, used in the FOTON battery, will be used for a number of other space applications.  In particular, various customers have selected the cell for use in lander applications wishing to take advantage of decreased battery mass to boost payload capability with a space qualified, and now, flight proven solution.  Andrea Bennetti, ABSL Program Manager for the FOTON M3 battery program, said:

“Today has been pretty emotional and highly rewarding following a challenging program where we qualified the ABSL33111PR cell and a new 90Ah battery design.  It is great to feel part of an international team proving valuable new technology.”

The ABSL 33111PR cell and battery had to survive the launch environment followed by 12 days in LEO before undergoing the final test when the FOTON M3 spacecraft began re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere.  At 07:58 GMT it hit the ground. The battery provided power to experiments in biology, fluid physics, crystal growth, exobiology and radiation.  The experiments were kept alive during the re-entry, landing and recovery phases until all operations were successfully completed.  The force of landing was reduced via the use retro-rockets but pre-flight qualification testing had proved that the battery was capable of withstanding the shock of a crash landing even if the retro rockets failed to fire.

-ENDS-

Media Information

For media information please contact:

• Rob Spurrett (UK) T: +44 1865 408 747 E:
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Notes To Editors:

ABSL Space Products (formerly AEA Technology Space)

ABSL Space Products is a trading name of ABSL Power Solutions Limited, which is one of nine companies acquired by Coller Capital from AEA Technology plc in October 2005. This change offers ABSL Space Products a huge opportunity to grow and develop the business to achieve its ambitions.

ABSL Space Products is the world leader in the supply of Lithium-ion batteries for space applications with contracts for more than eighty spacecraft and launch vehicles. ABSL supplied the first rechargeable Lithium-ion battery flown in space and a total of twenty-nine spacecraft in orbit are now using ABSL Lithium-ion battery technology.

ABSL has built up a global customer base, winning major contracts from NASA, ESA, and major prime manufacturers in North America, Europe and the rest of the world.

ABSL has demonstrated in orbit the most reliable Lithium-ion product available for the space market by clocking up over 5,300 cell years of space operation without failure.

ABSL has pioneered a battery design concept that is uniquely flexible. As well as being selected for very large space battery applications (such as the 400KWh unit for the NASA Space Shuttle), ABSL’s “small-cell” concept has become the natural choice for many satellite applications.

ABSL has been active in the space industry since the 1960s during the early days of ion-thruster development. During the 1980s, ABSL was the largest non-US subcontractor to the United States Strategic Development Initiative (SDI). More recently, effort has been focused on its power and optical products, such as LIDAR and infrared calibration systems.

ABSL is working on the next generation of Lithium-ion technology to increase battery level energy density to over 150Wh/kg.

Foton

Foton-M3 is a Russian spacecraft with the objective to perform space experiments during a short mission life (generally up to 2 weeks). The Russian Space Agency, Roskosmos, is responsible for the spacecraft, while ESA is responsible for the payload and experiments. A procurement order/agreement between ESA and Roskosmos, regarding the Foton-M2 and -M3 missions and payloads, was signed October 21, 2003.

The upgraded Foton-M spacecraft series, starting with Foton-M1, provides an average daily power of 800 W to the payload for a mission during of about 15 days. The Foton-M series spacecraft are being launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, with a Soyuz-U three-stage launch vehicle. The Foton-M2 spacecraft carried a European payload (coordinated by ESA) covering a scientific program consisting of 39 experiments in fluid physics, biology, material science, meteoritics, radiation dosimetry and exobiology (this represented essentially a reflight of the Foton-M1 payload).

The Foton payload comprises:

• Eristo/Osteo 66kg - 3 experiments on bone growth and yield (CSA/ESA)
• Aquahab 18kg - 2 experiments in biology of water organisms (DLR/ESA)
• Polizon 144kg - 4 experiments on materials science (KBOM)
• Stone 1kg -1-2 meteoritic re-entry experiment (ESA)
• Granada 5kg -growth of several protein crystals (ESA)
• Freqbone 7kg -countermeasures for bone losses in microgravity (B/ESA)
• DataLogger 2kg -Measurement of shocks, temperature and RH in Foton (ESA/TsSKB)
• Dimac 9kg - Tri-axial accelerometer system: true DC to 200 Hz (ESA)
• Teplo 10kg - low-g performances of new design heat pipes
• Total Mass 292 kg

Background: Unmanned recoverable capsules of the Foton type were introduced in 1985 by the Soviet Union. The design was based on the famous Vostok spacecraft, which carried Yuri Gagarin as the first man into space in 1961. Foton was envisaged as a microgravity platform for physics and materials science to complement the very similar Bion capsules that were aimed at life science studies. However, in later years an increasing number of biology and non-microgravity experiments were transferred to Foton, while the Bion programme was discontinued. Whereas Foton-1 through -4 had been pure Soviet missions, from Foton-5 onwards equipment from Western Europe was added to the payload.

ESA

The European Space Agency is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe. ESA has 17 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

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